Gaming machine, system, and method for an associated stage effect

ABSTRACT

A gaming system comprises a plurality of gaming machines operably interconnected. Each of the plurality of gaming machines is assigned a unique machine identification code. Each of the plurality of gaming machines includes a stage effect controller configured to perform a predetermined stage effect, a common timer for providing timing information related to the performance of the predetermined stage effect to each of the plurality of gaming machines, and a control unit operably coupled to the stage effect controller and being configured to perform the predetermined stage effect based on the timing information and the machine identification code.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.16/782,509, filed Feb. 5, 2020, which is a continuation of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 15/178,191, filed Jun. 9, 2016 (now U.S. Pat. No.10,600,280, issued Mar. 24, 2020), the disclosures of which areincorporated by reference in their entirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a gaming machine, a system comprising aseries of gaming machines, and a method to associate a stage effectamong the series of gaming machines.

BACKGROUND ART

A gaming machine represented by a slot machine is highly popular amongcasino customers as a device that provides gaming that is easy to enjoy,and recent statistics report that sales from gaming machines account forthe majority of casino earnings. Initial slot machines were simpledevices, wherein an inserted coin is received, a configured reel rotatesand stops mechanically according to a handle operation, and a win or aloss is determined by a combination of symbols stopped on a single payline. However, recent gaming machines, such as mechanical slot machinesdriven by a highly accurate physical reel via a computer controlledstepping motor, video slot machines that display a virtual reel on adisplay connected to a computer, and various gaming machines that applysimilar technology to other casino games are quickly advancing. For themanufacturers that develop these gaming machines, an important theme isto provide an attractive game that strongly attracts casino customers asplayers, and improves the functionality of the gaming machine.

SUMMARY OF INVENTION

In one aspect of the present invention, a gaming system is provided. Agaming system comprises a plurality of gaming machines operablyinterconnected. Each of the plurality of gaming machines is assigned aunique machine identification code. Each of the plurality of gamingmachines includes a stage effect controller configured to perform apredetermined stage effect, a common timer for providing timinginformation related to the performance of the predetermined stage effectto each of the plurality of gaming machines, and a control unit operablycoupled to the stage effect controller and being configured to performthe predetermined stage effect based on the timing information and themachine identification code.

In another aspect of the invention, a method to associate a stage effectamong a series of operably interconnected gaming machines is disclosed.In a first step, each of the plurality of gaming machines is assigned aunique machine identification code. In a second step, a common timer ofeach of the plurality of gaming machines provides timing informationrelated to a performance of a predetermined stage effect by a stageeffect controller of each of the plurality of gaming machines. In athird step, a control unit of each of the plurality of gaming machinesperforms the predetermined stage effect based on the timing informationand the machine identification code.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1A is a perspective view of a gaming machine according to anembodiment of the present invention.

FIG.1B is a front view of the gaming machine of FIG. 1A.

FIG. 2A is a functional block diagram of the hardware of the gamingmachine in FIG. 1A-1B.

FIG. 2B is a functional block diagram of the software of the gamingmachine in FIG. 1A-1B.

FIG. 3A illustrates a reset signal path through a series of gamingmachines.

FIG. 3B illustrates the relationship between a delay timer and a statustimer.

FIGS. 4A-4E illustrate operation of a sequential stage effect across aseries of gaming machine.

FIG. 5A is a diagrammatic illustration of a first exemplary game machinelayout.

FIG. 5B is a diagrammatic illustration of a second exemplary gamemachine layout.

FIG. 6 is a flow diagram illustrating a method for associating a stageeffect among the series of gaming machines.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

With reference to the drawings, and in operation, the present inventionis directed towards a gaming machine, a system comprising a series ofgaming machines, and a method to associate a stage effect among theseries of gaming machines. The series of gaming machines can performassociated stage effects. Stage effects may include LED illumination(including color balance and brightness of each RGB LED module, etc.),video graphic, sound, mechanical reel spin and any combination thereof.Associated stage effects may involve two or more gaming machines, allgaming machines in a bank of gaming machines or all gaming machines inan area of a gaming property. An associated stage effect may include astage effect that is synchronized across multiple machines, such as allmachines providing the same stage effect simultaneously or sequentially.For example, one or more bright spot may be moved across LEDilluminations of adjacently located machines.

Alternatively, some machines in a group may provide the same stageeffect simultaneously or sequentially, while other machines in the samegroup do not. In yet another embodiment, machines may provide a specificstage effect based on an associated machine ID. Because an illuminationis easier to display visually herein, an illumination effect will beused as an exemplary stage effect throughout this detailed description,although it will be understood that any type of stage effect known inthe art may be used with the present invention.

A series of gaming machines according to the present embodiment includestwo or more exemplary gaming machines. FIG. 1A and FIG. 1B are aperspective view and a front view, respectively, of an exemplary gamingmachine 10, according to the present embodiment. As shown in FIG. 1A,this gaming machine 10 provides a cabinet 20 providing an upper display22, a lower display 24, a control panel 26 and may also house a playertracking or ranking unit 57 (see FIG. 2A). The cabinet 20 also houses acontrol unit 50 (see FIG. 2A) that controls each part (see below). Thecontrol unit 50 also implements a random number generator (RNG) that isused during operation of a game.

The upper display 22 and the lower display 24 may be flat panel displaydevices, such as both liquid crystal display devices and organic ELdisplay devices and the like, and by controlling via each control unit50, the game screen mentioned below functions as a display unit 28provided to the player.

Speakers 30 are provided on the left and right of the cabinet 20, and bycontrolling via the control unit 50, sound is provided to the player. Onthe control panel 26, a bill/ticket identification unit 32, the printerunit 34, and an operation unit 36 are provided.

The player tracking unit may be housed on the center of the frontsurface of the third cabinet 20. The player tracking unit has a cardreader that recognizes a player identification card, a display thatpresents data to the player, and a keypad that receives input by theplayer. This type of player tracking unit reads information recorded onthe player identification card inserted by the player into the cardreader, and displays the information and/or information acquired bycommunicating with the external system on the display, by cooperativelyoperating with the control unit 50 mentioned below or an externalsystem. Further, input from the player is received by the keypad, thedisplay of the display is changed according to the input, andcommunication with the external system is carried out as necessary.

The bill/ticket identification unit 32 is disposed on the control panel26 in a state where the insertion opening that a bill or ticket isinserted into is exposed, an identification part that identifies abill/ticket by various sensors on the inside of the insertion opening isprovided, and a bill/ticket storage part is provided on the outgoingside of the identification part. The bill/ticket identification unit 32,receives and identifies bills and tickets (including vouchers andcoupons) that are the game value as a game executing value, and notifiesthe control unit 50 mentioned below.

The printer unit 34 is disposed on the control panel 26 in a state wherethe ticket output opening that a ticket is output from is exposed, aprinting part that prints predetermined information on a printing paperon the inside of the ticket output opening is provided, and a housingpart that houses the printing paper inside the paper inlet side of theprinting part is provided. The printer unit 34, under the control of thecontrol unit 50 mentioned below, prints information on paper and outputsa ticket according to credit payout processing from the gaming machine10. The output ticket can use the payout credit as game play by beinginserted into the bill/ticket identification unit of another gamingmachine, or can be exchanged for cash by a kiosk terminal inside of thecasino or a casino cage.

The operation unit 36 receives the operation of the player. Theoperation unit 36 includes a group of buttons 38 that receives variousinstructions from the player on the gaming machine 10. The operationunit 36, for example, may include a spin button and a group of settingbuttons. The spin button receives an instruction to start (startrotating the reel) a game. The group of setting buttons 38 includes agroup of bet buttons, a group of line-designation buttons, a max betbutton, and a payout button and the like. The group of bet buttonsreceives an instruction operation regarding the bet amount of credits(bet number) from the player. The group of line-designation buttonsreceives an instruction operation that designates a pay line subjectedto a line judgment below from the player. The max bet button receives aninstruction operation regarding the bet of the maximum amount of creditsthat can be bet at one time from the player. The payout button receivesan instruction operation instructing a credit payout accumulated in thegaming machine 10.

With reference to FIG. 2A, further on the inside of the cabinet 20, acontrol board equipped with a central processing unit 51 (abbreviated asCPU below) that configures the control unit 50, an interface unit (orpart) 52, a memory 53 and a storage 54 and the like are incorporated.The control board is configured so that communication is possiblethrough the interface unit 52 and each of the components equipped on thecabinet 20, controls the operation of each part by executing the programrecorded in the memory 53 or the storage 54 of the CPU 51, and providesa game to the player.

FIG. 2A shows a functional block diagram of the hardware of gamingmachine 10, according to the present embodiment. The gaming machine 10provides the control unit 50. The control unit 50 is configured as theinterface unit 52 including a chip set providing communication functionsof the CPU 51, a memory bus connected to a CPU, various expanding buses,serial interfaces, USB interfaces, Ethernet (registered trademark)interfaces and the like, and a computer unit where the CPU 51 providesthe addressable memory 53 and the storage 54 through the interface unit52. The memory 53 can be configured to include RAM that is a volatilestorage medium, ROM that is a nonvolatile storage medium, and EEPROMthat is a rewritable nonvolatile storage medium. The storage 54 providesthe control unit 50 as an external storage device function, can usereading devices such as a memory card that is a removable storagemedium, and a magneto optical disk and the like, and can use hard disks.

On the interface unit 52, in addition to the CPU 51, the memory 53, andthe storage 54, a bill/ticket identification unit 55, a printer unit 56,the player tracking unit 57, a graphic controller 58, an inputcontroller 59, and a sound controller 60 are connected. That is, thecontrol unit 50 is connected to the operation unit 36 through the inputcontroller 59, and connected to the upper display 22 and/or the lowerdisplay 24 through the graphic controller 58.

Further, when illumination that provides decorative lighting to thegaming machine 10 is provided, the illumination is controlled under thecontrol of the control unit 50 on the interface unit 52, and anillumination controller 61 that provides a decorative lighting effect byway of one or more illumination unit 62 may be connected. Oneillumination unit 62 may be provided at a peripheral surface of thecabinet 20 so as to form a line surrounding the upper display 22, thelower display 24, and the control panel 26. Additionally oralternatively, another illumination unit 62 may be provided at a topperunit 68 on the outer periphery of a topper display 70. The illuminationunit 62 may have, for example, (1) semi-transparent white acrylicresin/plastic parts exposed on the cabinet 20, and (2) one or more RGBLED modules behind the acrylic resin/plastic parts (not shown). Thecontrol unit 26 may control turning illumination on/off, color balanceof the RGB LED modules, and total brightness of each RGB LED modules viaillumination controller 62 to perform a visual effect (e.g.,illumination).

Moreover, when a stage effect is provided within the gaming machine 10,the stage effect is controlled under the control of the control unit 50on the interface unit 52, and a stage effect controller 63 that providesa stage effect by way of a stage effect unit 64 may be connected. Thestage effect controller 63 may control other functional blocks (e.g.,upper display 22, lower display 24, sound controller 60 with speakers 30and/or illumination controller 61 with illumination unit 62) to performa predetermined stage effect.

The control unit 50, which includes memory 53 and storage 54, controlseach part by executing a program stored in the memory 53 and the storage54, and provides a game to the player. Here, for example, the memory 53and storage 54 may be configured to store a program and data of anoperating system and subsystem that provide the basic functions of thecontrol unit 50 to the EEPROM of the memory 53, and stores a program anddata of an application that provides a game to the storage 54. Accordingto such a configuration, it can be easy to change or update a game byreplacing the storage 54. Further, the control unit 50 may be amultiprocessor configuration that has a plurality of CPUs.

Each block connected to the control unit 50 is described below. Thebill/ticket identification unit 55 corresponds to the bill/ticketidentification unit 32, receives bills or tickets in the insertionopening, and notifies the control unit 50 of identifying informationcorresponding to the assortment of bills or the payout processing ofcredits. The bill/ticket identification unit 55 notifies the informationto the control unit 50, and the control unit 50 increases the usablecredit amount inside of the game according to the notified content. Theprinter unit 56 corresponds to the printer unit 34, and under thecontrol of the control unit 50 that receives an operation of the payoutbutton of the group of setting buttons 38, information corresponding tothe credit payout processing from the gaming machine 10 is printed andoutput on a printed ticket.

The player ranking (or tracking unit) unit 57 cooperatively operateswith the control unit 50, and sends and receives information and thelike of the player from the casino management system. The graphiccontroller 58 controls the upper display 22 and the lower display 24,under the control of the control unit 50, and displays a display imagethat includes various graphic data. The sound controller 60 drives thespeakers 30 under the control of the control unit 50, and providesvarious sounds such as an announcement, sound effects, BGM and the like.Further, the interface unit 52 has various communication interfaces forcommunicating with the exterior of the gaming machine 10, including aformer gaming machine 65 and a next gaming machine 66 in the series ofgaming machines of the present embodiment.

FIG. 2B shows a functional block diagram of the software of gamingmachine 10, according to the present embodiment. Each exemplary gamingmachine 10 runs a game application 80, which includes a stage effectmanager 81. The stage effect manager 81 of the game application 80 maybe a software implementation of the stage effect controller 63.Middleware 82 connects game application 80 to an operating system 84.Middleware 82 includes a common timer 83, which shows the same timeacross each of the serially connected gaming machines 10.

Referring now to FIG. 3A, a reset signal path through a series of gamingmachines is illustrated. To facilitate operation of the common timer 83,the first gaming machine in a series of gaming machines may bedesignated as the “master” gaming machine and each of the remaininggaming machines in the series may be designated as a “slave” gamingmachine. Referring now to FIG. 3A, a series of gaming machines 100includes master gaming machine 101. Master gaming machine 101 sends areset signal that resets the common timer 83 in each of the slave gamingmachines 102. The arrows illustrate the reset signal path through theseries of gaming machines 100. By this common timer 83, each of theseries of gaming machines 100 can perform associated stage effects andassociated stage effects transition(s) based on common present timeinformation. In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, aseries of 256 individual gaming machines 10 may be connected, wheregaming machine 0 is designated as the master gaming machine 101, andgaming machines 1-255 are designated as slave gaming machines 102.

In some embodiments of the present invention, the common timer 83 mayconsist of two types of timers: a delay timer (e.g., a 1-milliseconddelay timer) and a status timer. The delay timer is required forimplementation of the association of a stage effect amongst a series ofgaming machines. The delay timer may comprise a 21-bit counter withmillisecond increments (e.g., one millisecond increments). The statustimer is not required for the implementation of the stage effectassociation feature. The status timer includes a 3-bit counter toincrement every reset signal generated by the master gaming machine 101for a predetermined period of time. The delay timer is cleared by afterthe status timer reaches a predetermined value. When the status timerreaches the predetermined value, a “1” is added to the timer, which inturn clears the value of the status timer. For example, when the statustimer reaches ‘111’, +1 is added and the value returns to ‘000’. Anexemplary status timer cycle is shown as follows, with exemplary valuescorresponding to predetermined time periods (in seconds): 000 [58.192s]→001 [134.657 s]→010 [66.278 s]→011 [134.653 s]→100 [58.195 s]→101[134.655 s]→110 [66.281 s]→111 [134.656 s], where the entire cycle is 13minutes and 7.571 seconds. Use of this cycle prevents time errors fromaccumulating within the software process. FIG. 3B illustrates therelationship between the delay timer and the status timer.

When a slave gaming machine 102 is switched off, the predeterminedperiod of time of the status timer may lead a maximum of 6 seconds andreconstruction of the connection between master and slave may occur. Thedelay timer may gain about 5 seconds for reconstructing the connection.Care should be taken to avoid a disruption in the desired associatedstage effect being performed. An idle period, where no stage effect isperformed, may be programmed to be initiated during the turning on andoff of slave gaming machines 102 or when one stage effect is beingswitched for another.

Referring back to FIG. 2B, the operating system 84 further includesdrivers 85, which provide software interfaces to illumination controller61 that provides a decorative lighting effect by way of an illuminationunit 62.

The gaming machine software further includes flash read-only memory(ROM) 86 for storing a machine ID 87. In an embodiment of the presentinvention, the machine ID 87 includes information that may be assignedto each gaming machine 10 in a series of gaming machines 100.Illumination controller 61 is configured to cause the illumination unit62 to perform a predetermined stage effect based on timer informationfrom common timer 83 and machine ID 87. Timer information may includetime elapsed by the status timer and/or time elapsed by the delay timer.The machine ID 87 provides information about the location of a gamingmachine 10 relative to the master gaming machine 101.

A machine ID 87 may be updated when the value of status timer is either“100” or “110”, as described above. Examples of updating the machine ID87 are shown below, where “STV” is an abbreviation for “Status TimerValue”):

<Normal Operation>

Turn on all machines ID0->ID0->ID0->ID0->ID0->ID0->ID0->ID0->. . .

STV: 000-011 ID0->ID0->ID0->ID0->ID0->ID0->ID0->ID0->. . .

STV: 100 ID0->ID1->ID2->ID3->ID4->ID5->ID6->ID7->. . .

<Turn off a gaming machine>

Status Timer: Optional ID0->ID1->ID2->ID3->ID4->ID5->ID6->ID7->. . .

Turn off 4th machine ID0->ID1->ID2->****->ID0->ID5->ID6->ID7->. . .

STV: Any except 100,110 ID0->ID1->ID2->****->ID0->ID5->ID6->ID7->. . .

STV: 100 or 110 ID0->ID1->ID2->****->ID0->ID1->ID2->ID3->. . .

<Turn on a gaming machine>

Status Timer: Optional ID0->ID1->ID2->****->ID0->ID1->ID2->ID3->. . .

Turn on the 4th machine ID0->ID1->ID2->ID0->ID0->ID1->ID2->ID3->. . .

STV: Any except 100,110 ID0->ID1->ID2->ID0->ID0->ID1->ID2->ID3->. . .

STV: 100 or 110 ID0->ID1->ID2->ID3->ID4->ID5->ID6->ID7->. . .

Although it is possible to associate a stage effects among the series ofgaming machines 100 by using common timer 83 alone, in some instances itmay be desirable to delay stage effects between each gaming machine 10among the series of gaming machines 100. For example, it may bedesirable to perform an associated stage effect in a pattern such thatthe illumination flows from the left-most gaming machine 10 to theright-most gaming machine 10 in the series of gaming machines 100.

When sequential machine IDs 87 are assigned in a common series of gamingmachines 100, each gaming machine 10 can identify its position withinthe series of gaming machines 100. Therefore, the series of gamingmachines 100 performs more complex stage effects, such as synchronizedeffects based on a sequential ordering, or alternate or special stageeffects based on specific positions of each gaming machine 10.

Referring now to FIGS. 4A-4E, the series of gaming machines 100 mayperform a sequential stage effect by delaying illumination based onmachine ID 87. Each of four gaming machines 10 in a series of gamingmachines 100 may be given machine IDs 87: “1”, “2”, “3”, and “4” (FIG.4A). The sequential stage effect may be ordered as 1-2-3-4, such thatthe gaming machine 10 that is assigned a machine ID of 87 “1”illuminates first in the series (FIG. 4B), the gaming machine 10 that isassigned a machine ID of 87 “2” illuminates second in the series (FIG.4C), the gaming machine 10 that is assigned a machine ID of 87 “3”illuminates third in the series (FIG. 4D), and gaming machine 10 that isassigned a machine ID 87 of “4” is illuminated fourth in the series(FIG. 4E), where the illumination effect is illustrated by design 103.FIGS. 4A-4D illustrate only one example of a possible sequential stageeffect. It will be understood that any ordering may be chosen, i.e.,4-3-2-1, 1-2-4-3, 1-3-4-2, and the like. The delayed illumination is afunction of setting the ordering pattern and the predetermined delayinterval in the game application 80.

Moreover, any gaming machine 10 can synchronously display illuminationregardless of machine ID 87, so as to perform synchronous stage effectsin the series of gaming machines 100. This is achieved by setting themachine ID 87 and “0” as the predetermined delay interval in the gameapplication 80.

A series of gaming machines 100 may be placed on a gaming floor in anyconfiguration that allows for operation of the associated stage effect.For example, FIG. 5A illustrates a machine layout 120, where twoback-to-back rows of four gaming machines 10 (numbered with machine IDs0-7) are connected at one end by the gaming machines 10 associated withmachine IDs “3” and “4”, and a machine layout 121, having twoback-to-back rows of four gaming machines 10 (numbered with machine IDs0-3 and 0-3), where the two rows are not connected. In an alternateembodiment, as shown in FIG. 5B, machine layouts 122 and 123 eachinclude gaming machines (numbered with machine IDs 0-3) arranged in acarousel formation.

Referring now to FIG. 6, a method for associating a stage effect amongthe series of operably interconnected gaming machines is illustrated. Ata first step 140, each of the plurality of gaming machines is assigned aunique machine identification code. This step may be performed throughsetting operation of a casino attendant or retrieval of stored machineidentification code from memory or stage of the gaming machine. At asecond step 141, a common timer of each of the plurality of gamingmachines provides timing information related to the display of apredetermined stage effect by a display unit of each of the plurality ofgaming machines. At a third step 142, a control unit of each of theplurality of gaming machines performs the predetermined stage effectbased on the timing information and the machine identification code.

Exemplary embodiments of a gaming machine, a system comprising a seriesof gaming machines, and a method to associate a stage effect among theseries of gaming machines are not limited to the specific embodimentsdescribed herein, but rather, components of the gaming device and/orsystem and/or steps of the method may be utilized independently andseparately from other components and/or steps described herein. Forexample, the exemplary gaming machine may also be used in combinationwith other gaming systems and methods, and is not limited to practicewith only the gaming machine as described herein. Rather, an exemplaryembodiment can be implemented and utilized in connection with many othergaming system applications. For instance, the present invention isapplicable to a gaming system which is a combination of a communitygaming system and individual gaming devices.

A controller, computing device, or computer, such as described herein,includes at least one or more processors or processing units and asystem memory. The controller typically also includes at least some formof computer-readable media. By way of example and not limitation,computer-readable media may include computer storage media andcommunication media. Computer storage media may include volatile andnonvolatile, removable and non-removable media implemented in any methodor technology that enables storage of information, such ascomputer-readable instructions, data structures, program modules, orother data. Communication media typically embody computer-readableinstructions, data structures, program modules, or other data in amodulated data signal, such as a carrier wave or other transportmechanism and include any information delivery media. Those skilled inthe art should be familiar with the modulated data signal, which has oneor more of its characteristics set or changed in such a manner as toencode information in the signal. Combinations of any of the above arealso included within the scope of computer-readable media.

The order of execution or performance of the operations in theembodiments of the invention illustrated and described herein is notessential, unless otherwise specified. That is, the operations describedherein may be performed in any order, unless otherwise specified, andembodiments of the invention may include additional or fewer operationsthan those disclosed herein. For example, it is contemplated thatexecuting or performing a particular operation before, contemporaneouslywith, or after another operation is within the scope of aspects of theinvention.

In some embodiments, a processor, as described herein, includes anyprogrammable system including systems and microcontrollers, reducedinstruction set circuits (RISC), application specific integratedcircuits (ASIC), programmable logic circuits (PLC), and any othercircuit or processor capable of executing the functions describedherein. The above examples are exemplary only, and thus are not intendedto limit in any way the definition and/or meaning of the term processor.

In some embodiments, a database, as described herein, includes anycollection of data including hierarchical databases, relationaldatabases, flat file databases, object-relational databases, objectoriented databases, and any other structured collection of records ordata that is stored in a computer system. The above examples areexemplary only, and thus are not intended to limit in any way thedefinition and/or meaning of the term database. Examples of databasesinclude, but are not limited to only including, Oracle® Database, MySQL,IBM® DB2, Microsoft® SQL Server, Sybase®, and PostgreSQL. However, anydatabase may be used that enables the systems and methods describedherein. (Oracle is a registered trademark of Oracle Corporation, RedwoodShores, Calif.; IBM is a registered trademark of International BusinessMachines Corporation, Armonk, N.Y.; Microsoft is a registered trademarkof Microsoft Corporation, Redmond, Wash.; and Sybase is a registeredtrademark of Sybase, Dublin, Calif.)

This written description uses examples to disclose the invention,including the best mode, and also to enable any person skilled in theart to practice the invention, including making and using any devices orsystems and performing any incorporated methods. The patentable scope ofthe invention is defined by the claims, and may include other examplesthat occur to those skilled in the art. Other aspects and features ofthe present invention can be obtained from a study of the drawings, thedisclosure, and the appended claims. The invention may be practicedother than as specifically described within the scope of the appendedclaims. It should also be noted, that the steps and/or functions listedwithin the appended claims, notwithstanding the order of which stepsand/or functions are listed therein, are not limited to any specificorder of operation.

Although specific features of various embodiments of the invention maybe shown in some drawings and not in others, this is for convenienceonly. In accordance with the principles of the invention, any feature ofa drawing may be referenced and/or claimed in combination with anyfeature of any other drawing.

What is claimed is:
 1. A system comprising: a plurality of gaming machines operably interconnected, each of the plurality of gaming machines assigned a unique machine identification code and including: a stage effect controller configured to perform a predetermined stage effect, a common timer, the common timer providing timing information related to the performance of the predetermined stage effect to each of the plurality of gaming machines, and a control unit operably coupled to the stage effect controller and being configured to perform the predetermined stage effect based on the timing information and the machine identification code. 